Sleeping thru the night

Amanda - posted on 03/10/2010
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Hi, Im just wondering if anyone elses 8 mth old is still not sleeping through the nite ...

My baby girl used to sleep all nite long, up until she was about 5 mths now she wakes at least 2-3 times during the nite, and the only way I can get her back to sleep is to nurse her. I dont think she shud be eating this many times during the nite still. any suggestions ...

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Jo - posted on 03/27/2010

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As babies get bigger they need more food, makes sense that our little ones as they get bigger and more active would need increased caloric intake and thus results in more waking during the night for additional feedings. Clinically speaking, an infant is considered to be "sleeping through the night" if they maintain sleep for 5-6 hours consistently 4 or more nights a week.

Forget the 'shoulds'. There's nothing wrong with a baby feeding at night. If she's waking so much that you are exhausted then look at some solutions. If you're only worried because others have told you that she 'should' be sleeping through then stop worrying, she's normal!

Have you tried just stuffing the binky in her mouth. My daughter was waking out of habit and I wanted to get 5 more minutes before feeding her so I gave her the binky and went back to sleep. I woke up 3 hours later...we ended up skipping a whole night feeding and in a couple nights I didn't even have to give her a binky, she just slept straight through what would have been a feeding time.

I have the same story as most of you - my 8 month old daughter has started waking up again around 3am (sometimes at 5am also) wanting to nurse (at least that's what makes her go back to sleep). Between 6 and 7 months she was finally sleeping through the night, so I think it may be teething right now, not just hungry from nursing. She hasn't gotten any teeth yet, though either. I'm hoping it will just pass when the teeth come.

My 8 month daughter doesn't always sleep through the night... She sometimes wakes up wanting to nurse. Also I think a lot of babies don't sleep through the night until about 12 month and some later. It thinks it helps if they go to bed with a full tummy. Plus if your breastfeeding you can't over feed her. She might just be doing this for comfort or maybe teething? Her gums maybe itching or painful if teeth are about to break through. Good luck everyone!

My son is 8 months old and he started sleeping through the night at 3 months old. When I say sleeping through the night I mean 8 pm-8 am. There have only been a couple of times where he has woken up in the middle of the night, but all I would do is go in his room and turn on his mobile and he would fall back asleep. He just started getting his first tooth, but that hasn't messed with his sleep schedule at night

At this age a lot of babies are going through developmental milestones that affect their ability to sleep well. Right now babies this age are learning to crawl,stand,walk, as well as other 'cognitive' developments.

"The "8-month sleep regression" (which for some babies is closer to a 9-month sleep regression) is related to the 37-week spurt. For some reason that one just seems to cause more waking, too, than some of the other spurts do. It might also be particularly hard because many babies are smack in the middle of working on crawling or walking, and also teething. (At Casa Moxie we've had probably 8 weeks of crappy sleep between teething, the 37-week spurt, crawling, teething, and now pulling up. Every now and then he'll have an easy night, but boy is it rough being a 9-month-old.)"

My son slept through from 2-6mths,, at 7mths he started waking twice,,1am then 5.30am. Managed to ignor him a couple of times at the 5.30 one which seemed to work he just talked to his toys. I have started to sometimes give him a dream feed again which seams to work,, but i dont want to get him into habits... I think it hard when they are eating solids as well as milk, making sure they are getting enought and not too much..

I have the same problem. Suddenly after we finally got 4 to 5 hours of sleeping through the night....he started waking up every 2 hours or sometimes less!! This started at 6 months for us and still happening. I also was nursing him back to sleep as well.

my son still wakes up during the night. he used to wake up about 2-3times. i think his teeth were just bothering him because when we gave him milk he didnt drink the milk he would just chew on the nipple. i also think the cold milk helped soothe his teeth. Now he is getting better at sleeping through the night.

My 8 almost 9 month old doesnt always sleep through the night either. She used to, but now she goes to bed at 7pm and wakes at 4-5am, nurses, then will sleep till 6-7am depending, some nights she wakes at 2am or so also, and i used to get up and nurse her, but the last few nights I have just left her, and within 5-10min or so, shes back to sleep, i leave soothers in her bed so she can find them and put them in herself..also I have a friend who gives her daughter some cereal right before bed and she sleeps through the night, hasnt worked for me but maybe it will for you, good luck :)